Urbanisation and the loss of phylogenetic diversity in birds

Abstract

Despite the recognised conservation value of phylogenetic diversity, little is known about how it is affected by the urbanisation process. Combining a complete avian phylogeny with surveys along urbanisation gradients from five continents, we show that highly urbanised environments supported on average 450 million fewer years of evolutionary history than the surrounding natural environments. This loss was primarily caused by species loss and could have been higher had not been partially compensated by the addition of urban exploiters and some exotic species. Highly urbanised environments also supported fewer evolutionary distinctive species, implying a disproportionate loss of evolutionary history. Compared with highly urbanised environments, changes in phylogenetic richness and evolutionary distinctiveness were less substantial in moderately urbanised environments. Protecting pristine environments is therefore essential for maintaining phylogenetic diversity, but moderate levels of urbanisation still preserve much of the original diversity.

The phylogenetic and functional diversity of regional breeding bird assemblages is reduced and constricted through urbanization

“…Our results generally agree with findings derived using spatial urbanization gradients, suggesting that the assumption that space can be reliably substituted for time is tenable, at least for breeding bird assemblages. Similar to spatial gradient studies, our results show that urbanization results in lower phylogenetic diversity and the loss of the most evolutionarily distinct species (Sol et al., ) and the loss of species occupying specialized functional roles (Coetzee & Chown, ; Concepción et al., ; Sol et al., ). The bird species that persist within urban areas are therefore phylogenetically and functionally less diverse and likely share traits that allow them to exploit the resources and avoid the risks uniquely associated with urban environments (Bonier et al., ; Evans et al., ; Sol et al., ).…”

“…Urbanization tends to reduce the number and density of native bird species and tends to promote the establishment of a limited number of non-native species (Aronson et al, 2014). Current evidence for breeding bird assemblages within European cities and cities located other regions of the globe (Ibáñez-Álamo, Rubio, Benedetti, & Morelli, 2016;Sol, Bartomeus, González-Lagos, & Pavoine, 2017) suggest urbanization results in a reduction in phylogenetic diversity. This reduction is driven in large part by the loss of evolutionarily distinct species (Sol et al, 2017) and the loss of species with more specialized functional roles (Coetzee & Chown, 2016;Concepción, Moretti, Altermatt, Nobis, & Obrist, 2015;Sol, González-Lagos, Moreira, Maspons, & Lapiedra, 2014).…”

Generalists are the most urban‐tolerant of birds: a phylogenetically controlled analysis of ecological and life history traits using a novel continuous measure of bird responses to urbanization

“…3, Table 2) is consistent with reduced phylogenetic diversity in urban areas (La Sorte et al ). Particular phylogenetic effects (Derrickson and Ricklefs , McKitrick ) probably allow specific subsets of species to remain tolerant of urban environments (Morelli et al , Ibáñez‐Álamo et al , Sol et al ). This strong phylogenetic signal contradicts other studies (Evans et al ), but was unsurprising given our large sample size of 477 species compared to the next highest of 55 species (Evans et al ).…”

Evolutionarily distinct amphibians are disproportionately lost from human‐modified ecosystems

“…; Sol et al . ). This suggests that anthropogenic land conversion may not only reduce biological richness, but also disproportionately erode the phylogenetic diversity of affected biological communities (Purvis et al .…”